Wikipedia:Patent nonsense
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This page documents an English Wikipedia deletion guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
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Wikipedia writers and editors contribute a lot of brilliant prose, but occasionally some patent nonsense. This falls into two categories:
- Total nonsense, i.e., text or random characters that have no assignable meaning at all, such as a passage of lorem ipsum text. This includes sequences such as "dsfjilsafjdhjsafdljsadhsa", in which keys of the keyboard have been pressed with no regard for what is typed.
- Content that, while apparently meaningful after a fashion, is so completely and irredeemably confused that no reasonable person can be expected to make any sense of it whatsoever. See word salad.
[edit] Not to be confused with...
The following, while often regrettable, are not patent nonsense, and should not be treated as such. Check the Deletion policy for information on how to handle these things.
- Violations of copyright or other exclusive rights, nonsense or not (see Wikipedia:Copyrights)
- Poorly written content that can be improved (See How to copy-edit)
- Partisan screed, or opinion masquerading as fact
- Incompetent and/or immature material
- Flamebait entries
- Obscene remarks
- Vandalism is not necessarily the same thing as patent nonsense and not all patent nonsense is vandalism. Sometimes, patent nonsense may be a mistake rather than intentional disruption.
- Text not written using the Latin alphabet or otherwise not written in English (see Wikipedia:Pages needing translation into English).
- Text translated or written by someone who is not a native English speaker, but meant well (see Wikipedia:Pages needing translation into English. For an explanation of what would fall under this category, see All your base are belong to us or Engrish.)
- Hoaxes (excluding pages on real, notable hoaxes, or sites dedicated to hoaxes), although these may qualify as vandalism
- Fictional story material (characters, settings, events, etc. which are only interesting to fans)
- Libelous, defamatory, or slanderous comments.
[edit] Dealing with patent nonsense
There are various ways to deal with total nonsense—use your good judgment to decide which is most appropriate:
- Replace it with brilliant prose.
- Move it to the article's talk page.
- Move it to the user's talk page.
- Remove it from the article if there is anything left in the article after that.
However, if anybody objects, because they believe that the content is not total nonsense, then it is best to discuss the issue with them and to try to reach a consensus. In particular, if someone says that they think they can rework the "nonsense" into something worthwhile, then please give them some time and space to do so.
If an article contains nothing but patent nonsense, use your good judgment to decide whether to:
- list it on Wikipedia:Articles for deletion
- delete it straight away (only if you are an administrator)
- add the tag {{db-g1}} or one of its alternative names {{nonsense}} and {{db-nonsense}}, which automatically lists it on Category:Candidates for speedy deletion
[edit] See also
- Nonsense
- Oxymoron
- Nonsequitur
- Gobbledygook
- Gibberish
- Word salad
- Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines
- Wikipedia:Deletion policy
- Wikipedia:Complete bollocks
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